SA health sector undergoes digital makeover

JOHANNESBURG, (CAJ News) – THE nationwide integration of web and mobile applications is the next step towards a digital lab in South Africa.
Lancet Laboratories, one of Africa’s leading pathology labs, has partnered with medical form-filling app LogBox to introduce the paperless patient intake at its sites across the country.
An important step towards Lancet’s vision of improved customer experience through technology, LogBox enables a ‘digital lab’ that benefits patients and laboratory staff.
By eliminating paper forms, the intake process is faster and more efficient, and the patient information captured is more accurate.
Sandile Sihlaba, Marketing Manager at Lancet Laboratories, said introducing LogBox to its staff and patients had revolutionised the
experience of visiting Lancet for pathology testing, particularly for patients with chronic conditions.
“Some of our patients require monthly testing, and filling in the same forms each time was frustratingly repetitive and time-consuming for them and our staff who know these patients on a first-name basis,” Sihlaba said.
Lancet and LogBox have successfully completed pilot testing of the app at the Wits Donald Gordon Medical Centre in Johannesburg.
Rollout to Lancet sites in Gauteng has commenced, and national rollout should be completed by early 2018.
Developed by South African orthopaedic surgeon, Dr Neal Goldstein, LogBox offers doctors and allied healthcare professionals a secure, easy to use, POPI-compliant application accessed via a desktop or mobile device.
Goldstein said ultimately, their vision was to use modern technology to improve human interaction during healthcare visits.
“This vision is perfectly aligned to what Lancet are working towards so we are delighted to count Lancet among our partners,” Goldstein said.
Launched in 2016, LogBox was nominated as a finalist in the MTN Business App of the Year Awards that same year.
In August 2017, it received the prestigious African Patient Data Logging Customer Value Leadership Award from Frost & Sullivan, a global research and consulting firm.
–CAJ News